Brother Avengers

Brother Avengers Chapter 2

"That was worse than going through French airport security," Pepper commented as she glanced back at the closing doors. Their shoes tapped against the white tile of the long, plain hallway as they lengthened their strides. Tony gave her a funny look.

"Since when have you ever had to go through security?"

Pepper laughed and adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder.

"Believe it or not, Tony Stark, I did have a life before I met you."

He faced forward and shook his head once.

"Impossible," he declared. She laughed again.

They reached the end of the hall, and Tony stepped ahead and pushed one of the double doors open. Pepper stepped through...

And her footsteps slowed.

They had entered what looked like a big work-out room—a boxing ring stood to her left, cages of basketballs and racks of weights lined the walls, and punching bags hung from the ceiling, along with the canister lights that illuminated the low-ceilinged space in a way that reminded Pepper of an old gymnasium. Metal pillars stood in their way, but at the far end of the room, she glimpsed a rectangular table, and two men sitting at it in folding chairs.

One, a tall, black-clad, broad-shouldered man, she recognized as Nick Fury—his one-eyed gaze cut across the distance—and he rose to his feet, and his long black coat rustled around his ankles. But Pepper noticed him only peripherally. The other person captured all her attention. As Tony came up beside Pepper, and they began to walk toward the others, her fixed gaze took all of him in.

He got up too, and he was tall. Over six feet. He was powerfully built, trim and cut—he wore boots, cargo pants, and a white t-shirt with a set of wings across the chest. He had neatly-combed, short sandy-blonde hair parted on the side, and utterly perfect features. Dark eyebrows that drew together in honest earnestness, a quiet, soft mouth, strong cheekbones, jawline and nose, and big, bright, blue-gray eyes with long eyelashes. He reminded Pepper of a lamb. Or a lion. Or both.

He was the handsomest man she'd ever seen.

"Wow..." Pepper whispered, her heart skipping a beat.

"Wow? Wow what?" Tony murmured, shooting her a look. Pepper blushed and ducked her head. Tony glanced back and forth between her and the stranger, and Pepper sensed his mood darken.

"Stark," Nick barked, stepping toward them. "Glad you could make it." He stuck out his big hand. Tony shook it.

"Happened to be in the neighborhood," Tony said, glancing the stranger up and down—Tony was considerably shorter.

"Miss Potts," Fury gave Pepper one of his rare smiles—the kind that was wide enough to wrinkle the scars around his eye patch—and shook her hand.

"Hi, Nick," she smiled in return. "Nice to see you again."

"So," Tony drew himself up and gestured to the blonde man. "Is this the mutant you were telling me about?"

"Tony!" Pepper gasped. The man frowned and looked at Tony.

"Way to start out with your foot in your mouth, Stark," Fury lifted an eyebrow, then turned to the new man. "No, this is your father's old friend, Captain Steve Rogers. Also known as Captain America."

Pepper stared, stunned. So did Tony.

"No way," Tony stated. "So you...You're the guy the Russians found frozen in the arctic?"

"That's what they tell me. I don't really remember," Rogers answered, his gaze finding Tony's, then Pepper's. He had a middle-depth voice—plain and straightforward. Again, he turned to Tony and searched his face.